I pointed out that this chiefdom had gained substantial control of trade in gold, copper and animal furs by around AD 1000.
In exchange for these items, the Leopards Kopje people acquired glass beads, cowrie shells and some cotton garments. We now know that by around AD 1200, the Leopards Kopje people living in the Shashe-Limpopo region began to face stiff competition for trade control from a newly established kingdom known as Mapungubwe. I have also opined that by around AD 1250, the Leopards Kopje chiefdom occupying the Shashe-Limpopo region was usurped by the Mapungubwe kingdom. Some Leopards Kopje people living far from the Mapungubwe region in the Tati River Basin, however, continued to develop without the influence of the Mapungunbwe chiefdom. This led to the sophisticated stone walling tradition that begins with the collapse of Mapungubwe and the rise of Great Zimbabwe. In short, these ancestors of the Bakalanga built Great Zimbabwe and somehow led to its demise with the rise of the Butua state in around AD 1450. The Chibundule mambos ruled the new state from their capital of Khami until around 1690 when they were ousted by Changamire, the trickster Banyayi army general. Changamire and his Banyayi adopted Ikalanga customs and language and ruled Butua as Nichasike I at their new capital of Danangombe.
